Chapter 8- "A... Senshi?"
When Ami awoke the next day, she found herself in her warm bed. In a daze, she sat up. Her bedroom was tidy as usual, everything in place. Her pale yellow swimsuit was slung over a chair at her desk to dry.
"...Bathing suit? When did I go swimming?"
Trying to shake off the haziness, Ami dressed for work and drove to the police station.
As usual, her coworkers called, "Hey, Mizuno!"
Ami waved, but didn't smile. She still felt hazy, and now a little dizzy. She stumbled into Chief Kana.
"I-I'm sorry, Chief-san," she mumbled.
He looked at her, concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..."
Ami's boss looked her over, and said, "I'll have you take it easy today by filing reports."
"Okay."
Ami went to her little cubicle. A stack of paperwork awaited her.
"Uhn...," she groaned, putting a hand on her forehead. What was wrong with her?
Her thoughts drifted...
--x--
Fourteen-year-old Ami sat in her cram school, trying to use the new Crystal Disk. She still didn't feel comfortable with it.
Her professor, who was standing next to Ami's desk, told Ami that the other students were trying to catch up with her. Her professor's words pushed Ami to work harder. She did not want anything to hinder the way to her dream.
Before Ami could comprehend, the professor changed into a grotesque form- she was no longer human.
Ami screamed and her chair crashed onto the ground as she stood quickly to try to get away. The hideous demon began attacking Ami's classmates, who seemed to be unfazed. Why weren't they scared?
Suddenly the beast whipped around to face her and she lunged forward. She grabbed Ami by the neck, lifting her up.
"Why didn't you use the disk! Why!"
Ami struggled and choked out, "I-I don't need... a disk!"
Someone crashed into the classroom. The demon turned. Ami stared- a nurse with blonde hair had entered.
"Let go of Ami!"
What? Ami thought, fear and curiosity mingling together. How does she know my name?
The monster dropped Ami and charged at the nurse.
The blonde didn't seem phased. She quickly raised her hand.
"Moon Prism Power..."
Ami's blue-black eyes widened. The nurse looked like her new friend Usagi Tsukino...
"...MAKE UP!"
Sailor Moon appeared right before her eyes and fought the demon and the hypnotized students.
When Sailor Moon started to lose the fight, a black cat with a golden crescent moon on its forehead appeared right in front of Ami. "Ami-chan, use this!" A blue pen sparkled in Ami's hand.
Before Ami could question how Luna could talk, the monster lunged at her again.
"Mer-!"
--x--
Ami blinked. What a strange daydream... Why was Sailor Moon in it?
She stretched and finished filing. Then, she went to the chief for further instructions.
"Good work, Mizuno," he said. Suddenly, the chief's phone rang, bringing more bad news. He sighed. "An attack. Again. What the hell's going on?"
Ami gasped a little. Chief Kana had never cursed in front of her. It was a sign of how frustrated he was.
Her new assignment was to try to bring order to the scene, though not with detectives, to her relief. She strode out to of the office to do her duty.
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He woke with Yumi in his arms once again. This time, however, they were in Ryo's apartment. She opened her eyes as well and looked up at him, smiling her beautiful smile. She snuggled closer to him. Ryo kissed her forehead and then sat up from his couch. At once, he collapsed back onto one of the pillows.
"Ugh... I don't feel very good..."
Yumi looked at him, concerned. She stood and said, "I'll make you some soup. Where do you keep your groceries?"
Ryo told her where. "Thanks a lot."
But, before Yumi could return with the soup, Ryo was fast asleep.
--x--
"...Power! MAKE UP!"
Ryo stared as someone called out something that made a blast of blue light fill the room. He couldn't tell who had called out through the bright flash.
He still couldn't see when the person- a woman- stepped behind him and said his name.
He turned and saw a woman with blue hair, shining in white light. He squinted. No, she had wavy violet hair.
Many times the image of the woman shifted back and fourth. Ryo was very perplexed at what he saw.
Finally the image stopped on the blue-haired woman. Ryo walked closer. She was crying....
--x--
Ryo blinked and sat up. Nausea set in, and he blanched.
When he came back from the bathroom, shaking and wiping his mouth, he found Yumi standing near the bathroom door with a worried look on her face. She was holding the soup, and a little was splashed down her front from hurrying to the bathroom door.
Ryo reassured her that he was all right. He went to lie back down on the couch. She kissed him on the ear, and he laughed and tickled her. After about two minutes of playful wrestling, the pair sprawled onto his couch.
"...What will we do about work?" Yumi asked in a tiny voice.
"...I don't know. But I'll do anything to help you."
Tears sprang into Yumi's eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.
Ryo ate his soup, and later they both gathered their coats, prepared to live through the awful reality of searching for employment.
"Wait a minute, Ryo-chan," said Yumi. "You go ahead to the newspaper stand. I'll catch up with you, okay?"
Ryo nodded. "All right. See you later."
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Galaxia watched Urawa as he left. She did not follow him. She had something else to do.
Moving quickly, she searched for a victim. Those Senshi shouldn't be anywhere near here, she thought, as she rounded the corner and saw a dark alleyway.
Ah, she thought, when she saw a little girl, possibly seven or eight years old. She seemed to have run a little ways ahead of her mother.
Galaxia smiled down at the girl "Hello there, little one."
The girl's baby blue eyes twinkled when she said, "Hi, Lady!"
Galaxia glanced around and said, "Where is your mother?"
The innocent child beamed up at her. "Oh, Mama's not here. I'm doin' an errand all by myself!" she said proudly.
"Well, aren't you a big girl?"
"Yup!"
Galaxia glanced around again. "Why don't I come with you?"
The girl looked a little skeptical. "Mama says don't go with strangers..."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Actually, I'll tell you a secret!" Galaxia bent down to the child's level and whispered in her ear, "I'm Sailor Moon!"
Clear blue eyes widened. "Really! Moon-chan?"
Galaxia nodded, smiling.
"Wow! Can... Can you transform for me?"
"Sure!" Galaxia took the foolish Earthling's small hand and lead her down the alley.
"Do it!" the child cried excitedly.
"With pleasure." Galaxia closed her eyes. When she opened them, Galaxia's Yumi disguise faded away and was replaced with her own glorious gold sailor-fuku.
"M-Moon-chan? Where are your wi-?"
Galaxia pointed at the Earthling, just as she did to Urawa and Sailor Mercury. The girl screamed, and, just like Galaxia did to Urawa and countless others, she extracted her memory. The child's eyes grew blank, and she took on a pale skin tone.
"Go," Galaxia commanded to the girl. Another impending attack was in order. Then, Galaxia snapped her fingers and her disguise formed back onto her body. She snapped her fingers again to make the ball of light materialize onto her hand.
"Hey!"
Galaxia turned, and...
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Ami continued to feel hazy as she drove to the crime scene. She remembered a strange phone call she received before she set off.
--x--
Okay, Ami, you can do this, Ami thought, fighting the vagueness seeping through her. There was work to be done.
At first she didn't hear it, but then Ami realized that her cell phone was emitting its soothing ringtone. She didn't recognize the phone number.
"Hello?"
"Ami-chan? How are you feeling now?" said a cheerful female voice.
"...Who are you?"
"...Ami-chan? Is something wrong? It's me, Usagi."
"Usagi...?"
Now, the voice sounded concerned. "Did something happen?"
Ami started to get angry. Her blue-black eyes flashed as she answered this Usagi person.
"Listen, I don't know who you are, but don't call again!"
"A-Ami-chan...?"
Ami scowled and did not let Usagi respond completely. She jabbed the "end call" button.
--x--
For some reason, the phone call made Ami shake with frustration. Usagi... whoever she was, Ami would report the call to the authorities- her coworkers.
She drove down a heavily congested street in Juban. Why it was congested, she didn't know... Maybe there was an accident? Ami pulled to the side of the road to take charge. She adjusted her badge and exited the vehicle.
"This is Ami Mizuno, a Tokyo police officer! What is the commotion!"
Ami saw three young women and two teens that she didn't recognize facing... Yumi Leiko.
...Leiko-san?
Leiko-san appeared to be arguing with them. Ami moved closer.
"How dare you hurt an innocent girl!" a teen with pink hair shouted.
Ami then noticed something- there were civilians stuck in traffic and walking by, but they seemed oblivious to the conflict.
Leiko-san had something bright in her fist, but it quickly faded away.
"I have no idea what you want with me."
"Liar!" a tall woman with boyish hair retorted. "Give that to us!"
Ami blinked. Were they referring to the bright object?
Another petite teenager with short black hair glared at Leiko-san. "Are you behind this?" she demanded, her violet eyes filled with fury.
Leiko-san smirked. "You tell me... Sailor Senshi."
Ami blinked again, and watched the women's looks of shock.
"That's it! We don't have to deal with this!" The pink-haired girl jabbed her hand in the air.
"Pink Moon Crystal Power..."
"Saturn Crystal Power..."
"Uranus Crystal Power..."
"Neptune Crystal Power..."
"Pluto Crystal Power..."
Together, they cried, "MAKE UP!"
Ami's eyes widened as she watched the women transform into the Sailor Senshi. Leiko-san didn't seem fazed at all. It was like she was expecting the women to transform.
Sailor Uranus pulled out a sparkling sword and charged at Leiko-san. Leiko-san dodged, her eyes glittering.
Suddenly, Leiko-san noticed Ami. "Hi there, Mizuno-san. Oh, don't worry about this."
Ami blinked yet again, and then placed a hand on her forehead. "Uhnn..."
Ami looked up. The Sailor Senshi with flowing aquamarine hair was playing a haunting tune on a crystal violin. Shining music notes streamed out from it and wrapped around Leiko-san. The Senshi with black hair and the Senshi with beautiful silky jade-green hair, each pointed their staffs at the imprisoned Leiko-san.
Ami continued to reel. Then, her mind went blank.
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Ryo stood alone at the newspaper stand, searching for job openings. He circled a few ads in the job listings section where he could make decent wages, but having a fired detective as part of your resume is a huge disadvantage.
He trudged to each place that he marked off.
"Sorry, son, you need more experience."
"Eh, no."
"Are you kidding? This ain't for you."
"You're a registered chef? No? Forget it!"
Ryo sighed after shuffling out of a restaurant. Nothing. Then, he stopped.
"Where did Yumi go?" he wondered aloud. He checked the time on his cell. "She should've met me by now..."
Ryo tried to think of where she'd gone, and decided that Yumi probably went back to her apartment to change her clothes- she was so upset last night... He went back to his own apartment to get his car to go to her home.
As he drove, something he couldn't get out of his head was an image of a blue-haired woman...
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"So," Galaxia sneered, "You've shown yourselves."
Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn continued to point the Garnet Rod and Silence Glaive at her.
"Do not move," Pluto whispered. "You wouldn't want me to use Dead Scream, would you?"
Galaxia smirked. "Go ahead."
Pluto and the other Senshi were taken aback.
"Who are you?" Chibi Moon demanded.
"Oh, no one you'd know..." Galaxia broke Sailor Neptune's music rope. She turned away. "Make this worth my time."
She turned back to see Sailor Mercury standing watching them, though very unsteadily.
Perfect, Galaxia thought. "Ah, Mizuno-san! Why don't you come over here?"
Her eyes blank, Mercury shakily walked over to Galaxia. She paused, and slowly knelt on one knee before Galaxia.
All five Senshi's eyes widened.
Sailor Mercury slowly faced them. Her eyes flashed, and she hurtled toward them.
Sailor Chibi Moon leapt out of Mercury's way. "A-Ami-chan!"
Sailor Neptune gasped when Mercury grabbed onto Sailor Saturn, thrashing around and yanking her thick black hair. Neptune hurriedly played her crystal violin again.
"Submarine Violin Tide!"
Once again, a stream of music spilled from the violin and, this time, bound Sailor Mercury.
Galaxia laughed gleefully as Mercury broke the rope with ease like Galaxia. Mercury went for Sailor Pluto and grabbed her Garnet Rod.
Galaxia continued to laugh as Pluto and Mercury struggled.
She didn't see Sailor Uranus run stealthily behind her holding her Talisman, and Chibi Moon holding her scepter.
"Space Sword Blaster!"
"Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"
Galaxia yelled when the sword stroke split the pavement and from the force of Chibi Moon's attack. She fell in a heap, her fake violet hair all over her face. Galaxia felt her power weaken slightly.
Sailor Mercury turned toward Galaxia and released Pluto's rod. She swayed, and crumpled to the ground.
"Damn you, Sailor Senshi!" Galaxia spat. She stood, and with a quick turn, disappeared from the fray.
Galaxia reappeared in space, in her sailor-fuku, and sat on an asteroid, thinking. She was defeated, but just this one time. She would get her vengeance. Soon.
She smiled. An idea was forming...
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"...mi-chan. Ami-chan!"
Ami slowly opened her eyes. There were people, watching her. She was on the hard concrete of a back alley.
"Wha?" She sat up quickly, and then gasped.
Five Sailor Senshi stood in front of her.
The Senshi with pink hair asked, "Are you okay, Ami-chan?"
"...How do you know my name? Who are you?"
The Senshi with boyish hair said, "You're one of us- you're Sailor Mercury."
"I'm a... Senshi?"
Ami stood and slightly turned toward them.
"...I don't... believe you."
